How does the mafia make money?

The mafia makes money through a wide variety of illegal activities. Illegal activities, especially selling illegal goods, can make a lot of money. Illegal goods are often expensive, untaxed, and unregulated, which means there is a lot of money available for the selling of them.

Another way that the mafia makes money is by ignoring regulations in businesses to optimize profit. An example of this is when the mafia starts waste management businesses and then rather than disposing of waste correctly, they simply burn the trash. This is illegal, but it is much cheaper than the correct disposal process.